The first time I had fried artichokes was at a little place in our neighborhood called Supreme; they went out of business shortly after we moved in, or I’d probably have the artichoke equivalent of a beer belly by now. Since then, I never pass up a chance to eat fried artichokes (including the classic …

This is the second in my series of amuse bouche based on fresh lychees. (Here is the first in the series). This one I fried using the small-batch tempura batter from Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking, and served it with a Togarashi-spiced mayo, black sea …

Let me say for the record: I have no desire to eat bacon. I prefer for pigs to keep their own bellies and backsides. However, I’m not at all opposed to having good ways of adding crispy, salty, savory, smoky goodness to my meals.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of cooking a five-course dinner at Cafe Flora as a benefit for City Fruit, a wonderful organization here in the Seattle area that harvests thousands of pounds of fruit from trees that would otherwise go to waste and donates that fruit to food banks and sell some of …

This was absolutely an improvisation; I’d been traveling and had very few vegetables in the house on my return, but found a few waxy potatoes lying around along with a hunk of feta and a package of dill that was still good. That got me to thinking of Middle Eastern flavors and 15 minutes later …

Panna cotta is a classic Italian dessert, traditionally made from cream and milk set with gelatin, which isn’t vegetarian. The gelatin is what makes it different from flan (set with eggs) or pudding (set with starch and sometimes eggs). The best panna cotta is ultra-creamy and just barely set – it should have a distinct …

How is this for confusing? Curry powder is not made from curry leaves. Good Indian cooks tend to mix spices for individual dishes, although there are some mixtures that are fairly standardized, like garam masala. In the west, some truly awful, unbalanced spice mixtures go by the name of curry powder and should be roundly …